Julien Baker Opens up About ‘Sprained Ankle’ and Success On Her Own Terms

20 year old Julien Baker has had quite the year. The Memphis,Tennessee native began her career with alternative rock outfit Forrister before going solo in 2015. She released her breakthrough debut, “Sprained Ankle” in October to a flood of critical praise. Since then Baker has been spreading her transfixing and relatable guitar based music and, thanks to her achingly beautiful performances, the musician’s honest songwriting is in high demand.

One reason Baker’s music is so mesmerizing is that she an ability to capture what it’s like to be young, in love and miserable so effortlessly that it seems as if the listener’s own heart is speaking. Never without an air of hope and understanding, Baker knows her words reverberate farther than her own experiences. Quoting one of her favorite groups, Savages, she said, “’Once a song is made it doesn’t belong to you anymore.’ When I heard that I said that’s so true. I love asking [people] what they think my songs mean, because it is whatever it means to you, because it’s yours now. It is a beautiful thing to be able to let go of your authority on the art.” Though it is clear Baker knows how to pull the heartstrings, she still has trouble pinpointing exactly why so many people have such a strong attachment to the explicitly despondent “Sprained Ankle.”

“Honestly, I don’t know,” Baker said. “People ask me, ‘What do you think it is that people latch onto about the record?’ And I have no idea. And I also don’t want to say, ‘I know why, it’s because I’m making a deep personal connection to everyone.’  Like I’m some very important poetic intellectualI know that I’m not.”

Leaving Forrister for a solo career was rewarding but not without challenges. “I remember when my single got onto NPR,” she said, “I was overjoyed at first and then I was thinking about it and thinking about it and I called (Forrister’s) Matthew  and I was crying, saying ‘I don’t know what to do, I feel like you guys think I sold out and you hate me.’ Matt said, ‘What are you talking about? We are so proud of you, we love you, stop being an idiot.’”

“Matt got to come on stage with me when we played Newport,” Baker said. “And looking over and seeing him, this is cheesy buteverything disappeared. Yes, we were at Newport and we were in front of this huge audience, something that I never thought would happen and then it became just me and Matt, playing in the garage again. And I thought, that is the coolest thing that this has afforded me. The freedom to bring him with me and have my best friend, my brother, there with me.” Moments of success like these have filled Baker’s last few months of touring, “It feels good to be surprised by it,” Baker said. “To be perpetually taken aback by things that I never thought would happen. All the opportunities I’ve been afforded, I couldn’t be more thankful.”

It’s this humble nature that makes Baker and her music so likable, with no frills or facade to her lyrics or character. Both are honest. Though she has been touring in a whirlwind of international success, Baker still relishes the simple joy of finding a space where she can create something for her fans. “What is most fulfilling is getting that interaction with the audience,” Baker said. “I can make the art by itself and I would love to do that, because I think all creative people love the process, but ultimately it’s art when it’s shared. It’s art when it’s interpreted by someone else.” The intimate nature of Baker‘s records draws you in immediately; it’s clear that she speaks from a place of complete vulnerability and that emotional authenticity is what allows her to really stand out.